Annie
Scriptures:
Matthew 2: 1-12
Revelation 22: 9
John 4: 23-24
They saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him.
Shut your eyes, right now, and allow your mind’s eye to see that utterly astounding picture. Kings from the East, wise men, Magi, and, truly, who knows how many of them there were, entering the low ceilinged, dimly lit room where Mary and Joseph were with their precious Son. The scent of spices filling the air, the magnificence of their robes in such contrast to the humble dress of these ordinary, working class parents, who stared at them with surprise and, more than likely, a sliver of fear on their faces. Then, watch as these esteemed visitors went down to their knees, bowed their heads, and kissed the hand of the Christ Child in reverence and awe.
Some thirty three years later, a woman would fall to her knees, bow her head and reach out to touch the feet of this same Christ, now the Risen Lord, on that first Resurrection Sunday. The same act of utter reverence and awe that is called WORSHIP.
I tried to find out how many times “worship” is spoken of in our Bible, it seems that scholars can’t really agree but it is around 180 to 190 times. Always it means this same act of reverence and awe, always it indicates a bowing down, head to the ground, and, often, kissing the hand or touching the feet of the one being worshipped. WORSHIP.
In the Book of Revelation, the word “worship”, in its various grammatical forms, is mentioned more times than in any other book of our Bible, twenty two times. So, I have to ask myself, what in our future will be the most important act we will take part in, for the whole of eternity, what will we be doing? And the answer is pretty clear. We will be worshipping the One who sits on the throne forever and ever. As the Angel said to John, “Worship God”.
When Jesus met the lonely woman at the well in Samaria, He made it clear that there are specific criteria that God desires in the way we worship. The location doesn’t matter, the time of day doesn’t matter, what matters is that we worship “in Spirit and in Truth”. As always, Jesus strips away our preconceptions, He brings us right back to the heart of the matter, in this case the Heart is God Himself. It is our Father’s most earnest desire that we know Him so well that, in our heart, all we long for is to be in His presence, just totally lost in the glory and wonder of His Being. So absorbed, so in awe that it is impossible for us to remain standing; so overcome with adoration and reverence forGod that our hearts burst with worship.
“Spirit and Truth”. Jesus tells us that Holy Spirit is always with us as our Teacher, Guide, Counsellor. He also tells us that He, Jesus, is Truth. So, we are instructed to worship, being taught, guided and counselled by Holy Spirit and through Jesus Himself, the only Way to the Father. I love to sing to my Abba Father, songs of thankfulness, of exaltation for all He is and has done, of praise for this amazing creation where He has placed me, but worship is something very different.
For each of us, worship probably looks very diverse in its outpouring, yet the essence has to be our total, absolute, undistracted awe and reverence for God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Sometimes it may well be physically prostrating ourselves before Him, bowing down, kneeling with head lowered. Sometimes it is our heart that prostrates before Him, but whichever way our worship is manifested, we cannot pretend with God, awe and reverence must be at the core.
As we turn our eyes to that scene, played out so long ago in that lowly house, we see worship in its purest manifestation. Those lofty visitors, gloriously robed and with such expensive gifts for this infant King, with faces bowed to the ground, demonstrate what worship truly is. They saw God’s sign in the heavens, followed the star to where it led them to find the One who is King of kings and Lord of lords. And there, they worshipped, the example for us all, granted for us to find in the midst of the wonderful story of our Saviour’s birth.
Prayer: Abba Father, we thank You for this amazing plan of Salvation that we see played out in the birth of Your Son into humankind. The intricate, intimate details that lead us to the hidden clues, there for us to find, so that we can discover exactly how You desire us to live. Through the name of Jesus, Your Son, and the power of Holy Spirit, we worship and adore You. Amen
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